Threads
by Lauren Nachtyr
Summary: Matt's dragged by Mello to do some clothes shopping that results in some interesting humor concerning the blonde's leather pants, and Matt purchasing his signature fuzzy vest.


"Matt, c'mon already. Quit lagging behind." Mello frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. He stood still a moment, looking behind as the redheaded gamer stood a few yards away on the city sidewalk.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Rolling his eyes once from behind orange-tinted goggles, the hacker sighed, raising both hands to an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. He cupped his hands around the cigarette, shielding it from the cool winter air as he lit it. The heat from the lighter felt exquisite, seeing as all he wore was a thin black and red striped jumper. He shivered once, placing the silver lighter in one of his jean's pockets.

Deep wrinkles formed around the corners of Mello's lips as he frowned again, shaking his head. "Really…this is exactly why we're going shopping in the first place, Matt. You need some damn winter clothes."

Mello couldn't understand why Matt insisted on wearing the same clothes day in and out: a black and red striped long sleeved shirt and light wash jeans with holes in the knees. But there were some parts of his outfit that were good for the season: a pair of mid-calf high motorcycle boots and nearly elbow length leather gloves. Despite those two items, Matt was hardly protected from the cold.

Before leaving the apartment, the blonde had offered the gamer a coat, but he declined.

"Mells…I'm fine. I don't need new clothes." At that moment Matt felt a tickle in his nostrils and let out a pitiful sneeze. An icy chill ran down his spine as his hands cradled his elbows, hoping to keep warm.

"Yeah…sure," replied Mello, ever sarcastic. "Don't you try to tell me otherwise…" Looking up at the New York City buildings around them, Mello realized they had come to their destination. "Ah, this will do," he exclaimed with a pleased expression and looked behind to Matt again. "C'mon."

Matt rolled his eyes and reluctantly entered the structure behind the blonde. It was warm to say the least and the redhead relaxed as a result. Lukewarm air wrapped around his form, the temperature almost too hot to bear, reminding Matt how cold he had actually been. _Dammit, Mells…why are you always right?_ "So, what is this place?"

"It's a clothing store, can't you tell?" Deep blue eyes rolled exasperatedly. "Now let's go and look for something for you."

"Fine…" Matt followed close behind so as not to incur Mello's wrath. No point in getting yelled at any longer.

On the inside, Matt couldn't seem to understand why he was fighting Mello at every turn. _God…what's wrong with me? _He thought. _Oh, now I remember. There's just something about Mello shopping that always gets on my nerves. I never want any part of it._

Matt sighed, remembering the last time the two had been shopping together. It had been furniture shopping, and Mello flitted around talking about throw pillows and fabric samples like a girl.

Matt stood a foot or two away from Mello as he rifled through clothing racks of coats and winter vests. _Really…he's such a girl. Look at how he's dressed. _

Mello wore what seemed to be his usual attire. Over his shoulders he wore a plum and crimson winter coat which was unzipped, revealing his black quilted belly vest. His red and white rosary dangled over the vest, the cross swinging from side to side as he moved; a pair of short leather gloves were on his hands, cropped half an inch above the wrist. The pièce de résistance was the slim fit leather pants, tied with a simple cord and fastened with a black belt and heavily engraved cross buckle.

_Really…how does he fit into those things…_Matt couldn't help but let his thoughts wander as he imagined many creative ways for Mello to fit into those pants. _Wait…_he thought, his expression comically confused as his eyebrows turned down. _Does he go commando? How else could he fit 'em…they're freaking skin tight._

Again the gamer's thoughts wandered as he stared at the details of Mello's pants. His gaze trailed from the top of the shiny leather trousers, past the belt buckle to the fly secured with a black cord. Matt's eyes bugged as he recognized the contours of a familiar shape, tight and perfectly outlined. _God…he DOES. Why didn't I notice this before…it's so obvious!_ Rubbing at his eyes the redhead looked on in shocked horror.

"Matt…what are you doing? Quit looking like an idiot and come here," said Mello, unaware of the stares he had received from Matt.

Snapping back to reality, the redhead came closer to Mello. "Eheh…what?"

Mello handed him several hangers of coats, shirts and vests. "Here, go try these on."

Matt blinked but took the clothes. "Um…"

"Go to the dressing room, moron." Mello pointed in the general direction of the changing rooms.

"Oh, right, right, eheh…" En route to the fitting room, Matt was caught by a store employee and made to put out his cigarette.

Mello shook his head more times than he wanted. _Such an idiot. A lovable idiot…but an idiot nonetheless._

Matt closed the door behind himself and looked at a single mirror in the fitting room he occupied. "Really… what's wrong with how I dress?"

Shaking his head, he let his shoulders sag as he looked to the clothes picked by Mello hanging on a hook near the floor-length mirror. "Might as well…" he said to himself and removed his shirt.

_Really…what's so wrong with how I dress? At least I don't look like a Lady GaGa impersonator. Or a hooker or something…_

Matt tried on the first shirt, a polo. _No._

Putting his usual shirt back on, he tried on a trendy double-breasted winter coat. _Ick…that's not me at all._

Sighing, he returned to his thoughts of Mello's outfit. _Oh yeah…I forgot about the boots he wears, too. _Matt knew those boots quite well; they were Mello's favorite: a pair of shiny crimson steel-toed boots that came up to the mid-calf over the leather pants. _Ok…if this isn't proof that he's a girl I don't know what is. What man would spend $160 on one pair of shoes?_

Matt tried on another coat. _These really don't suit me at all…_

As obscure as Mello's clothes were, at least they suited him. That's what Matt thought at least. The edgy, extravagant apparel he wore seemed to compliment his shaggier hair and facial scar that resulted from his failure a couple months back. The leather served to accentuate his darker, dangerous nature.

Matt's imagination began to run wild, a scantly clothed (more scant than usual) image of Mello coming to mind. _Matt…_The Mello in his head spoke, pulling the redhead into a full French kiss, the blonde's hands groping along the hacker's chest. He pulled away from Matt, fingertips on the ends of the cords that held his pants knotted closed. Aside from that pair of leather pants he was naked. _You really want to know if I go commando or not? _Mello smirked. _Well here, I'll show you._

"Are you done in there?" yelled Mello from behind the dressing room door.

Matt shook his head a couple times before his fantasy had drifted away like a shaken Etch-I-Sketch. "Eheh yeah…" Matt opened the door to see the flesh and bones Mello before him. This Mello didn't look nearly as inviting or nice as the one in his fantasy. He pouted internally.

It didn't take long for the blonde's expression to change from annoyed to shocked as he blinked a few times. "Wow…that one looks good on you."

"Huh?" Matt looked down at what he wore. He hadn't realized that he had tried on the remaining clothes whilst fantasizing. "Oh….this…" Matt turned around to the mirror. He wore a light tan winter sleeveless vest that had fluffy cream-colored material around the edges. The vest was closed with a zipper that started at the top of a high neck, so high that it came under Matt's bottom lip and ended past the fly of his jeans.

"Wow, Mattie. That looks pretty good on you." Mello came up behind the gamer, placing one hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I wasn't sure what your style was so I chose a lot different things. Never would have imagined this would look good on you. But it seems to fit. It even matches the rest of your clothes somehow. And it looks really warm, too."

Matt looked to Mello who was smiling. Green eyes blinked as he looked back to the mirror. _I guess it does kind of suit me. And it's really warm, _thought Matt, feeling quite comfortable in the vest. "Heh yeah. It's really warm."

"Great then." Mello patted his partner on the shoulder and left the room. "Let's go and pay then."

"Right."

Several minutes later the pair found themselves on the sidewalk outside, walking side by side.

The wind wasn't nearly as cold to Matt as he snuggled into his vest with a smile unseen by Mello. But then Matt blinked as something began to eat at his mind, something from his earlier thoughts. "Hey, Mells…"

"Hm, what?"

Against his better judgment, Matt continued. "Do you go commando?"

Blue eyes grew exceptionally large. "W-What?"

"Your leather pants. Sure looks like a tight fit. And I was thinking earlier how you could possibly fit them."

Mello stood frozen in place as the redhead continued to yammer.

"And I thought, well duh, you must not wear underpants. So….is it true?" Before Matt could realize what had happened, he found himself on the cold pavement. He blinked several times while looking up at the blonde who huffed with anger. "M-Mells?" A dull throb of pain ached around his left cheek as he raised a gloved hand to the affected area. _D-Did he just slap me?_

A dark crimson color rose to the surface of the blonde's facial features. He struggled to form words into sentences, instead uttering a couple of incoherent phrases before turning tail and walking angrily away from the gamer. "Stupid Matt!" he finally yelled. "I'm never taking you shopping again!"

Shaking his head once, Matt quickly got to his feet and followed after his partner. "Wait, Mells! Don't say that, this was fun. I love my new vest!" he yelled, laughing at the situation. His stupidity had earned him a good smack in the face but he just couldn't help but laugh. "Mells, come back!"


End file.
